This study aims to create a greater understanding of how mega-sports events can be used as a means of nation branding to influence the destination image and travel intention of the host nation. In this thesis, the authors, through a deductive approach and a quantitative research strategy, conducted a survey of Swedish people interested in sports. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program was used to process the collected quantitative data from the questionnaire. The empirical results of the thesis were analyzed with previous research to strengthen the study. The result of the study shows that mega-sports events can be a pull-factor for tourist’s travel intentions and mega-sports events can also be used as a means for nation branding. Furthermore, the study shows that interest in sports functions as a push-factor when traveling, for Swedish people interested in sports. However, the effects of nation branding on the destination image and travel intentions vary, and largely depend on whether people have visited the event or not. Media surrounding a mega-sport event also has an impact, as do the host countries' geographical and cultural differences to the targeted market. Differences in the empirical result mean that it is not possible to draw conclusions about how mega-sports events affect the destination picture.

Successful presentation of a country as a brand and positioning its unique image on the global level can give significant opportunities for development and progress of the state in the different areas. This research applies theories on the country branding to estimate impact of mega sport events on the image of state. To accomplish these goal I used case study – formation of brand Ukraine before hosting European Football Championship 2012 (EURO 2012). To investigate  brand strategy of Ukraine and analyze implemented projects I conducted in-depth interviews with government officials and independent experts, who are involved in promo campaigns of Ukraine. The research concluded that Ukraine is in the process of  brand formation, but it is too early to to assume the existance of the comprehensive brand of the country. For Ukraine, EURO 2012 impulses change of negative perceptions of the country and  is a step towards complex strategy of brand creation. Future of this strategy therefore depends on conducting preliminary studies of each promo project and coordinated collaboration between all actors who take part in creation of brand Ukraine. Research also provides recommendations on how to make brand campaign more efficient.

Peer reviewed literature currently provides little knowledge of how to recruit and train Doping Control Officers (DCOs) for Mega Sport Events. This study adds to the existing body of literature on creating knowledge transfer and legacy for future Mega Event Organizing Committees. A phenomenological designed study was conducted through the use of a qualitative on-line survey during the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games. A survey response rate of 58% was achieved. Survey responses by DCOs were analyzed using inductive coding to identify four main themes; i) DCO motivations, ii) training program design, iii) engagement and support, and iv) barriers to participation in the results. Recommendations include using mixed methods for future studies, provide DCOs with training and evaluation opportunities prior to the Mega Sport Event, and developing mentorship opportunities during games operations. Additional research is needed to create greater understanding of DCO motivations and perceptions beyond this study.

Lorsque nous parlons de relations internationales, nous parlons généralement de diplomatie et d'investissement, Le sport peut être utilisé comme outil pour améliorer la diplomatie entre les pays, ainsi que pour développer les intérêts économiques et sociaux. De plus, le sport occupe une place importante dans le repositionnement de l'image d'une nation, tout en améliorant le processus d'intégration des jeunes générations dans le monde. L'un des principaux intérêts, du point de vue du gouvernement, est de créer un lien affectif positif avec la nation hôte de l’évènement sportif. Ce qu'on appelle le soft power. Le but de ce travail est d'explorer certaines des façons dont le sport est utilisé pour générer ce pouvoir, et comment il peut contribuer à générer du contrôle ou à provoquer de l'influence, en se concentrant sur l'État du Qatar. Ce travail est séparé en trois parties principales. Je présente d'abord le développement du sport et la manière dont les événements sportifs ont été utilisés par différents pays et régimes politiques, ainsi que l'impact généré. Deuxièmement, j'essaie de comprendre l'impact généré par l'investissement du Qatar dans l'équipe de football française du Paris Saint-Germain. Et troisièmement, en mesurant l'impact socio-psychologique généré par la jeune génération en organisant des événements sportifs internationaux, le cas du championnat du monde de handball 2015. Ce travail vise à clarifier comment un tel investissement est perçu comme une opportunité de développement au sein de la société, et d'améliorer la diplomatie. En se concentrant sur l'évolution dont le sport est utilisé comme un outil important dans le processus de socialisation des jeunes dans la société mondiale. Sur la base de mes recherches, le résultat de l'investissement dans le Paris Saint-Germain était une situation «gagnant-gagnant» entre la France et le Qatar sur le plan social, économique et politique. De plus, l'utilisation des événements sportifs a eu un impact émotionnel positif, faisant admirer aux résidents la vision du gouvernement. La jeune génération, quelle que soit sa nationalité, a une vision positive des efforts du gouvernement pour s'améliorer et se développer. La vision du gouvernement du Qatar était saillante pour la jeune génération au Qatar. / When we mention international relations, we generally talk about diplomacy and investment, but there are other ways of promoting the interests of a government on the international stage. Sport can be used as tool to improve diplomacy between countries, as well as developing economic and social interests. Additionally, sport takes an important place in shaping the image of a nation, while it improves the integration process of young generations into the world. One of the main interests, from a government perspective, in the use of sport, is to generate a positive emotional connection to a host nation - what is known as soft power. The aim of this work is to explore some of the ways in which sport is used to generate this power, and how it can provide a type of control or influence. Specifically, it will focus on the State of Qatar. This work is separated to three main parts. First I present the development of sport and the way sport events were used by different countries and political regimes, and the impact generated. Second, I try to understand the impact generated from Qatar investment in the French football team Paris Saint-Germain. And third, I measured the socio-psychological impact generated on the young generation from hosting international sport events, as in the case of the Handball World championship 2015.This work sets to clarify how allowing such investment is perceived as an opportunity for development within the society, and to improve diplomacy. Additionally, focussing on the young generation allows me to study the evolution of how sport is an important tool in the process of socialization of young people into global society. Based on my research, I argue that the result of the Paris Saint-Germain investment was a "win-win" situation between France and Qatar on the social, economic, and political level. Also, using sport events generated positive emotional impact, making the residents admire the vision of the government. The young generation, regardless nationality has a positive view of government efforts to improve and develop itself - the Qatari government's vision was salient to the young generation in Qatar.

The 2010 Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (FIFA) World Cup (WC) would be the first time that a FIFA WC would be hosted on the African continent. This study was aimed at describing the South African City of Tshwane (COT) general volunteers’ experiences of volunteering at the 2010 FIFA WC. The FIFA Volunteer Programme consists of two groups of volunteers: Local Organising Committee (LOC) volunteers and each Host City (HC) volunteers. The COT volunteers are HC volunteers from the Tshwane Metropolitan Area (TMA). Volunteers are active in a variety of different contexts, namely in the community, volunteers at sport clubs or schools and also at mega sport events. Volunteers make it possible to host a mega sport event because they provide their time and effort without expecting remuneration or they receive a stipend amount. The existing literature of volunteers at mega sport events investigated what motivated volunteers to participate as well as how satisfied the volunteers were with the experience. The aim of this study was to describe COT general volunteers’ experiences of preparing (preparation phase) for the 2010 FIFA WC; COT general volunteers’ experiences during (participation phase) the 2010 FIFA WC, as well as the South African COT general volunteers’ experiences on their involvement (reflection phase) at the 2010 FIFA WC was described. The methodology employed in this study was Descriptive Phenomenology and the Duquesne Phenomenological Research Method was used to analyse the material. The differences between Descriptive Phenomenology and Interpretive Phenomenology were described. The material consisted of a written account as well as an interview, which was based on the essences that were portrayed in the written accounts. There were five participants — three spectator services volunteers and two rights protection volunteers. All of the participants were female. The findings of this study were divided into the preparation phase, participation phase and the reflection phase. In the preparation phase the COT general volunteers described two essences namely, the application process and training. In the participation phase the COT general volunteers experienced four essences namely, the working of shifts, interaction with volunteers, interaction with supervisors and lastly interaction with tourists. In the reflection phase the volunteers described two experiences, growth and value. This research project contributes to sport psychology because this study describes the experiences of volunteers at the 2010 FIFA WC. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted

This thesis, as a case study, focuses on the perspective of foreign news reports on Taiwan’s first time hosting an international multi-sport event, the World Games 2009 in its biggest port city Kaohsiung. The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung, the significant Olympic type mega-event as to Taiwan, is applied as the approach to public diplomacy and soft power for the purpose of expanding Taiwan’s international space. It is expected to raise publicity and mass media exposure to boost Taiwan’s international profile and spur its tourism industry. From Taiwan’s image-marketing strategy, practices to foreign news reports, it outweighs to study foreign media’s reflection on Taiwan and the World Games 2009 as the important evaluation on the mega-event as a whole. This thesis attempts to answer two research questions: How was the World Games 2009 Kaohsiung reported by the foreign media? Did hosting the World Games improve Taiwan’s image? It presents the results and perspectives of foreign news reports by qualitative methods: case study and discourse analysis of online-English news reports and some quantitative methods applied on data. It combines news reports study with theory, model of public diplomacy, mega-event and expected-model. Within 101 pieces of online-English news found related to the World Games 2009, it unveils fruitful results such as the failure of interpreting the core story (Taiwan’s images and values) by foreign media during the sporting extravaganza, and it echoes Rivenburgh (2004)’s three viewpoints toward the Olympic type event (intercultural challenges, less news about host country’s culture and dramatic news). By the amount of news and the absence of foreign media on the press conference indicates that foreign media did not pay much attention to the World Games and Taiwan. In spite of reporting the sports and games, other major topics of reports were Taiwan’s hosting the event, the greenest solar-powered stadium designed by Japanese, Toyo Ito, Chu Chen’s promotion itinerary to Beijing and China’s absence on the opening and closing ceremony which triggered foreign media’s great concern.

This study investigates the impact of mega-sporting event announcements on the host country's stock market. The analysis includes 34 events between 2000 and 2024, including the Olympic Games (Summer and Winter), the FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA European Championship. Employing a deductive approach grounded in existing theory and research, the study formulates hypotheses and utilizes an event study methodology to examine whether the announcements trigger abnormal returns in the host nation's stock market. T-tests are used to assess the statistical significance of the findings. The results provide limited evidence of market reactions to the announcements, with any potential effects occurring primarily before the official announcement, suggesting the possibility of information leakage or insider trading. No significant effects were found on the announcement day itself or on subsequent days. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences were found based on the economic size of the host nation or the type of event. However, the study did observe that FIFA World Cup announcements tend to generate slightly more volatile market reactions compared to the other events.